Here Comes the Rain Again….

A quick break in my week of analysing my lunch….I bring you the story of the rain barrel.

Pete and I have been toying with the idea of getting a rain barrel for some time.  It is obviously more sustainable than using MORE of the municiple water supply.

There was a bit of a problem though.  Conventional ready made rain barrels turned out to be absurdly expensive.

Home Depot had rain barrels in the $90-$225 range.  Additionally, with Home Depot one would have to pay for shipping because none of the Houston area Home Depots carried rain barrels in their brick and morter stores.

Lowes proved to have similar issues.  New Living, Houston’s AWESOME Sustainble Home Store, had recommendations of companies who would engineer systems for consumers.  However these proved to be out of our price range. Also as we are renters, a permanent fixture would not really be practical.

We decided to make our own.  So I trolled Craigslist to see if any Food Grade Plastic Barrels were available for purchase.  I did not find any such barrels.  However,I did find a gentleman who was building rain barrels, of the type we were planning to construct, and selling them for the bargain price of $65 dollars.  This was too good of a deal to pass up.

So we snatched one up. 

It is made from a recycled Hops drum from a brewer.  How cool is that?  It has brass fittings for the hose and for the over flow or in the event we buy a second one, a diverter. 

It also has a filter to protect from falling debris.  I’m going to use the “fish in the barrel” method of mosquito control.  Add a few cheap gold fish, and they will eat any larva that the mosquito females lay.   I find this mildly brilliant.

We are going to install a diverter, to shoot the water coming through the gutters, directly into the barrel.   Hopefully we will have it set up this weekend.

Then, I just wait for it to rain!

Eco-Chicness, Hearth and Home